Success! My first Video footage of an otter

I was beginning to believe that my efforts to set up a remote camera to capture footage of my local otter population were all going to end in disappointment.

I thought I'd carried out quite careful recognisance of the area and thoughtfully chosen some of the best locations to set my camera traps. Of course none of the ones I through would yield good results have come to anything so far. However you may remember that I mentioned that I'd set up one camera beneath a small bridge where there was quite a lot of apparent otter activity. To be quite honest I wasn't too sure whether I'd capture anything at all there. But, would you believe it, this one has come up trumps. Bingo there she is - I assume its a she a) the otter doesn't look that big - and b) it is usually the females that stick to more defined territories so the betting is its more likely to be a female.

This footage was shot at 1am on 6th January 2012

And just when you think its all over the otter comes back a few hours later. Again I'm assuming its the same otter here. Has she been foraging further afield and returned to this location because its particularly good, or is this perhaps close to a favourite resting spot or Holt.

This footage was recorded at 3:39am on 6th January 2012

Its not all been that successful however. I really did have high hopes of the Camera I carefully located to watch the sandbags the otter enjoys grubbing about on and often leaves a sprint there too. Neither has there been much sign of any new sprainting nor any footage from Camera No 2. I'll leave that in-situ a bit longer to see what happens. I'm sure the otter will appear there at some point. In the meantime I'll have to decide whether to move Camera No 1 or to try to relocate it a touch to see if I can bet a better - wider - shot of the otter. This might help to understand what it is doing and where it is going. I think its just getting back into the river again but it would be nice to get a better shot if possible.

In fact the only interesting footage i've managed to capture on Camera 2 is this nice footage of a passing Fox strolling along the river bank looking for opportunities to feast on some unsuspecting mouse or water vole. Night time on the river is certainly busier than you might think. Nature is never still, it is constantly on the move always ready to take advantage of what ever lies just around the corner.